Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the Blog World. For all of those that will be venturing out on the road today, I pray that you have a safe journey.

This morning, while looking through my enormous stack of newspapers, I found this in the Richmond Times Dispatch. The title of the small story was, "The 'Apple' of his eye."

"An early production Apple Macintosh 128 computer presented by Apple to "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry brought $8,260 in recent Profiles in History auction. The circa 1986 computer with 9-inch display was later upgraded by Apple for Roddenberry into a Macintosh Plus."

What a great gift! I am a computer lover, I have about 5 working computers and about 10 stone age computers in various working order under my house. Every now and then I will go to a yard sale and pick up one of these $20 prehistoric beauties just for fun.

Should Pres. Obama send a Condolence Letter?

Today in the Wall Street Journal there is a story of a military family that is lobbying to have a long standing rule over turned. Traditionally the sitting President sends a Condolence Letter to the families of fallen soldiers. However, this 25 year old military man committed suicide. The long standing tradition is that those who commit suicide don't get condolence letters sent to their families. What do you think? Should President Obama send a letter? Read the story for more insight into the growing military suicide problem.

Wow, this person is Ticked!

Wow, the Daily Progress in Charlottesville, has one ticked off citizen. He has been to the Tea Party events, the 9/12 protest, and is now calling on people to vote in 2010. Read his letter and meet who he thinks would be a good representative.

LTE compares LBJ to President Obama.

The Roanoke Times has a LTE that compares Pres. LBJ to Pres. Obama. An interesting read.

An excerpt; "In addition, he [LBJ] wanted to get conservatives to back his Great Society. He told one writer "I knew from the start that ... if I left the woman that I really loved -- The Great Society -- for that b.... of a war on the other side of the world then I would lose everything at home."

Chris Graham at the AFP has a Health Care Reform Plan!

Chris Graham, who operates the Augusta Free Press, has an article that details his idea for Health Care Reform. Surprisingly enough it includes a tax break for all Americans. Chris, "A" for effort, however I still don't think a Government Option is either Constitutional or viable. I already have posted a Health Care Reform proposal, now others are as well, let freedom ring. I wonder if Mr. Graham would like to sit down with me and think up a proposal together? That could be a lot of fun.

Virginia Higher Education Budget gets the Axe.

According to the News Virginian, the state higher education budget will be cut to the tune of 8% for UVa, Virginia Tech, William&Mary, and VMI and a 7% cut for Community Colleges. The budget cut will also bring 593 layoffs of state employees.

Augusta County BOS commit to more spending.

Today in the News Virginian, the Augusta County Board of Supervisors are reported to be considering a decision to apply for a U.S. Homeland Security grant that would allow the county to hire 7 more firefighters. The only catch is that the funding is only available for 2 years. After that period of time the salary for these firefighters will have to come out of our local funds. County Administrator Pat Coffield estimates the position will cost the county between $325,000-$420,000 annually. The decision by the BOS has been put off until the December 9th BOS meeting.

While I can understand the county has a need for more firefighters, my question is, will we be able to afford the positions after the grant has run out. If not, than we will have done a great disservice to these 7 brave new fire fighters who will have been brought on. If we are going to do this we need to plan for their continued financial support now and cut off frivolous spending at our local level.

New Lights on Afton Mountain.

According to the News Virginian, Afton Mountain has been upgraded with a new lighting system during foggy conditions.

A response to Rep. Bob Goodlatte Letter to the Editor.

The News Leader ran a Letter to the Editor in response to Congressman's Bob Goodlatte's. This person counters that while Congressman Goodlatte makes good points on Health Care Reform, where were these ideas when the Republicans had control of the Congress in 1993. An interesting letter. Quick fact, Congressman Bob Goodlatte entered office on January 3, 1993 and is currently serving his 8th term in office.

Washington D.C. and Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Disagree.

According to the News Leader, The Catholic Church and Washington D.C. are at odds over a new law that would legally recognize gay marriage in the District. The Archdiocese, which operates and serves through charity about 68,000 people, say they would have to pull out of the District unless a provision is made in the law for religious exemption.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, a Catholic and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, says he doesn't agree with the church's decision. The church counters that it can't in good faith place a child in foster care with a same sex couple. This is only one example of the conflict.

I would like to know why Gov. Kaine felt it necessary to interject himself in District business. I congratulate the Catholic Church on offering an Olive branch in the form of accepting a provision for religious exemption, now the only question is will the District meet them at this halfway point. If not it could spell disaster for many thousands of poor and homeless residents in the District.

Saxman Recognized.

Former Delegate Chris Saxman was recognized for work done during his time in the General Assembly, SWAC Girl has all the details.

Surfing the Blogs.

I was looking at Fishersville Mike blog and read something that I think Democrats and Republicans should think about. Great job Mike.

President Obama welcomes P.M. of India.

The Wall Street Journal has a piece about India's Prime Minister coming to visit. This will be President Obama's administration first state visitor. The big focus will be on the economy.

TOTUS; funniest blog ever. This is Genius!

The Blog TOTUS or Barack Obama's Teleprompter Blog is hilarious and definitely one I will visit on a daily basis. Sometimes you just have to laugh, either that or cry.

Here is an excerpt from the most recent post, "First up, this ridiculous idea that the Department of Justice floated to put some Gitmo terrorists on trial in New York City. Big Guy felt bad about just getting to the memo since it had been sitting on his desk for a few weeks, but what with getting Fox News in line, date nights with Lady M, the World Series, Halloween, it's been a pretty busy fall. In the end it didn't take much time. O looked at the proposal and almost hit the roof of Air Force One. "Like hell we'll do something that dangerous and short sighted," Big Guy told Rahm. Rahm just smiled that reassuring smile of his and moved down the list; it was obvious Big Guy wouldn't have to think about this one ever again."

Tea Party director, Richard Armstrong running for Staunton City Council.

According to the News Virginian, Tea Party Director Richard Armstrong has thrown in his hat for the Staunton City Council seat vacated by now State Delegate Dickie Bell. The Tea Party has gotten much more active as the political atmosphere has become more charged. Armstrong, 63, is a former Detroit police officer and Navy veteran. He stated that Staunton is not friendly to business and he wants to work toward fixing that. The Staunton City Council is interviewing people to fill the seat until a special election in May 2010.

There is also a letter to the editor in The News Leader about the Tea Party Movement.